MADISON, Ill. — It’s a big NASCAR weekend in the St. Louis region.
Sunday marks the very first time a NASCAR Cup Series, The Enjoy Illinois 300, will come to World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois, and fans are so excited they sold out tickets to the race.
The Enjoy Illinois 300 will take place at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.
World Wide Technology Raceway Executive Director and General Manager Chris Blair gave 5 On Your Side a guided tour of the race track Thursday.
You can see the St. Louis skyline from the track.
“Right now, you’re standing on turn 4,” said Blair, guiding the tour. “Actually, between 3 and 4 with the front stretch and the main grandstand approach behind us. You can see everything that’s going on and the set up as we’re putting the final touches on this race weekend.”
It looks like there’s a small city located on the infield of the track.
“It’s incredible,” Blair said. "With all the moving parts and pieces that go into this. It’s kind of chaos in motion.”
Blair said they will have a full evening of racing Friday night, with the truck series practice and then the qualifying race. Then drivers will head over to Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach to participate in a dirt event.
Saturday, the Toyota 200 NASCAR Truck Series Race takes place, along with the qualifying race for the Enjoy Illinois 300.
Confluence Festival, a music festival set to take place from Friday to Sunday will feature more than 30 local, regional and national music artists, including Nelly and Tim Dugger.
Blair said Friday is Richard Petty Appreciation Day and track officials are taking measures to honor the king of stock car racing.
“This is the first time ever the NASCAR Cup Series cars have practiced on this race track,” said Blair. “So, we’re going to see all the race teams on the track, today. That’s going to be real exciting for us – it’s a historic moment. Richard Petty, the kind of stock car racing, is going to be the ceremonial first lap. We’re going to have a ribbon-cutting ceremony to welcome NASCAR to St. Louis.”
Tens of thousands of NASCAR fans are making their way to St. Louis, this weekend. Some 57,000 people will fill the grandstand for the weekend of racing festivities.
World Wide Technology Raceway will be the only track in the county this year to host NASCAR, IndyCar and NHRA.
Blair said on the NASCAR circuit, often times racing program announcers will say they're broadcasting "live from Chicago," or some other similar location, when in fact the event is 40 miles from Chicago.
"That won't happen this weekend," Blair said. "You can see the St. Louis skyline and the Gateway Arch from the grandstand."
For more information on the Enjoy Illinois 300, check out this guide put together by 5 On Your Side for all the need-to-knows on the NASCAR race at World Wide Technology Raceway.